The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Spc. Luke P. Frist, 20, of West Lafayette, Ind., died of wounds on Jan. 5 at Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Frist was part of a convoy that was struck with an improvised explosive device in Baghdad, Iraq. Frist was assigned to the 209th Quartermaster Company, U.S. Army Reserve, based in Lafayette, Ind.

I think the Pentagon lies to us about the number of dead. I don't know if it's 7,300 dead soldiers or 3,000. But I'm convinced the Pentagon cannot be trusted on ANYTHING. Nobody should trust ANY "information" from the Pentagon. After the WMD fiasco, it has lost ALL credibility on EVERYTHING.

Unless there is solid evidence that 7,000 soldiers are missing from the death count, this is speculation until the facts say otherwise. icasualties.org is quite good at what it does, and they've been able to match a name to every number that makes up the list of dead soldiers thus far, and as of yet, they have not come out agreeing with such a statement.

But we never got that WMD evidence prior to the invasion. I don't believe ANYTHING from the Pentagon or the White House. Zarqawi doesn't exist, WMD doesn't exist, the Saddam-Qaeda link doesn't exist and Saddam didn't gas the Kurds. This entire war is a HUGE lie. You should remain skeptical and have huge doubts about any information that comes from the Pentagon.

10. You should question even sources that speak counter to the Pentagon's

TBR news, I assume this is where this figure came from, is a right-wing Neo-Nazi revisionist hate site, and I'd seriously question their integrity on the matter as well. They have an agenda, and it isn't about revealing the facts but, rather, about forming an image that helps advance their own interests, which doesn't necessarily square away with that of the truth.

I adopt a neutral position with respect to how many soldiers really died. icasualties.org lists 1700+ casualties. They've got names, faces on file matching up with each number reported dead. That's good. I buy that. That's hard evidence verifying that at least that many did die.

If there are more, then the investigation will find it out in the end, but until then, I should and will always remain agnostic on the issue. I'm not going to buy 7,000 or even 9,000 dead just because it goes contrary to the Pentagon's position.

I repeat that I am not agreeing or disagreeing with you about the number of dead soldiers. But what I am asking people is that if they are going to make such claims, then they should have hard evidence. I'm talking about DNA samples, name badges, pictures, their social security numbers, their bank account numbers, family members willing to vouch for said name, their death certificates, etc.

I'm talking about real evidence "beyond a reasonable doubt" that that person really did die in Iraq.

I am asking people is that if they are going to make such claims, then they should have hard evidence.

America didn't need hard evidence of WMD in 2003. After the WMD disaster, it is obvious that America and its minions in the Pentagon have decided that "hard evidence" is no longer necessary to justify policy. Since that is the case, I will never trust anything that comes from the Pentagon. I am absolutely convinced that nearly EVERYTHING coming from the Pentagon is a TOTAL lie.

I am not going to automatically believe any source outside the Pentagon or even the Pentagon itself with respect to the number of Americans killed unless there is verifiable evidence to back up such claims. icasualties.org serves a purpose, in that case. It has and will continue to verify the casualties as long as the war rages.

The same BURDEN OF PROOF that lies on the Pentagon also lies on the shoulders of websites such as TBRNews. If they have evidence of an extra 7,000 or even 10,000 dead who have gone missing, then we need the names of each and every one of those to back up the number.

we at the ICCC do not simply list names from the Centcom/DoD releases .... we add the deaths to our public number of deaths WHEN we have CONFIRMATION, preferably official confirmation from Centcom and/or DoD death notices."

In other words, you wait for confirmation from the Pentagon, a source that cannot (and must not) be trusted.

Reporters in Iraq are hiding in their hotels, human rights workers are avoiding Iraq, soldiers don't know what's going on 10 miles from their posts and the resistance controls most of Iraq. Nobody outside of Iraq has a true picture of the reality inside Iraq. But the Pentagon knows who is missing or dead amongst its battalions and I'm certain they are low-balling the KIA number for the American public.

We've already had a few threads like this locked. I don't believe there are 7,000 dead Americans as well as I don't believe it is only 1,700. The truth is too hard to get and may never be gotten especially from the warmongers in this administration.

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators

Important Notices: By participating on this discussion
board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules
page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the
opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent
the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.